"The Exploding Meatball Sub"

Originally Aired: April 11, 2011

So glad to have this show back. Really missed it.

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Robin saved that "You hang up," "No, you hang up" bit.

Graduation Goggles playing "I Will Remember You" in Sepia tone

Marshall & Lily: "The only thing we've ever argued about is whether Tommy Boy is awesome, or super awesome."

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It's just like Ted to think he can speak another language and suck at it.

That scene with Barney and Robin is one of the best things the show has ever done. His calm demeanor and pleasant conversation, followed by the explosion was great enough on its own. But then another cutaway to Robin being there the whole time was icing on the cake. She's gotten some of the biggest laughs from me this episode by just being there.

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Future Ted: "But is one really better than the other? Yes, support is better."

I love how Barney wasn't upset because Marshall left and it had nothing to do with abandonment issues, he was just frustrated that he didn't get his revenge. So perfectly fitting for the character.

10 years later...Barney gets his revenge.

The "graduation googles" and Barney's revenge in the future.

Yeah, the reveal that he was upset because he lost his chance at revenge was great

I missed the last bit of the show, what was the payoff with the exploding sub?

10 years later, Barney pretended he was dying. He had himself hooked up to all of these machines and Ted, Robin, Marshall, and Lily were there. He asked Marshall to eat the meatball sub as his last wish. Marshall was really confused as to why Barney had a sub there with him, but obliged nonetheless. It exploded in Marshall's face, Barney revealed he was faking and spent tons of money to rent the machine, but that it was worth it. Then Ted pointed out that Barney had a bit of marinara sauce on his suit pajamas, and he freaked out.

Gosh,I can't help but feeling that HIMYM is starting to become Lost (pun intended). They keep preaching more and more twists but there doesn't seem to be a payoff in sight. If I hear Bob Sagat talk about detrimental things down the road one more time...

There were a lot of solid moments in this one like Barney destroying his office and Robin's story about killing someone, but none of it was particularly funny. Most of the bits fell flat for me.

But HIMYM is all about the journey.

Wait, for me, Lost was the same, all about the journey.

There was some laughs, but I thought the plot lines were pretty stupid and farfetched by HIMYM standards. The meatball sub thing was just weird, and there's no way Lily would even consider leaving the country without telling Marshall. Not to mention a callback to Robin's dog boyfriend, which is probably the dumbest thing I've seen on the show.

Unlike Lost, I couldn't care less about where HIMYM ends up, as long as it's continually hilarious.